In Search of Pre-Exilic Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar. Edited by John Day. Pp. xvi + 432. (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series, 406.) London: T&T Clark International, 2004. isbn 0 567 08196 6 (hardback), 0 567 08206 7 (paperback)

Abstract

The time gap between the earliest witnesses to the text of the Old Testament in the second century bc and the periods of time which that text purports to portray will always present the interpreter with intractable historical issues. The ‘minimalist’ position, developed over the past two decades or so by such scholars as P. R. Davies, N. P. Lemche, and T. L. Thompson, holds that the Old Testament was composed near the time when the first textual witnesses are available and reflects above all the attitudes and interests of writers of that time. It is this ‘everything is late’ approach that the present volume seeks to counter. In the words of the editor, ‘We hope to show that though much of the editing of the Old Testament took place in the exilic and post-exilic periods, we do nevertheless have access to pre-exilic sources of information about ancient Israel greater than some recent scholars have allowed’.